Clik here to view.
'Ten Handy Ways to Poison your Spouse - Part 3' by Karen Maitland
Poisoning of Queen Bona of Poland (1528-1572)Artist: Jan Matejko (1838-1893)The queen was murdered by her trusted officeron the orders of King Philip II of Spain.We are now in the Dog-days of summer,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Invisible Children by Eleanor Scott
For July, we have a second guest post in place of Caroline Lawrence's usual spot, as Caroline has left us. Please welcome Dr Eleanor Scott.Eleanor Scott is an archaeologist and writer best known for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Carnivorous hotels - Michelle Lovric
Until very late in its pre-publication life, The Wishing Bones was called The Hotel of What You Want. Naturally, that’s because it’s about a hotel where exactly what you don’t want is what befalls you....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Let's Talk about the F-word by Susan Vincent
I’m a dress historian. Since this is my first blog for The History Girls, I thought I’d clamber onto my soapbox (I don’t need much persuading) and rant a little about ‘fashion’ – or the f-word as I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Playing in a Mystery Play
“Mystery plays and miracle plays are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dudley's Devil, Ghost Wives And Pit Bonk Wenches by Susan Price
Dudley Castle, Wikimedia, Trevman99"The Devil stood on Dudley's keepAnd far about Him gazed,And said, 'I never more shall feelAt Hell's fierce flames amazed."If I look across the valley from my house,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Markyate Manor – Home of The Wicked Lady
by Deborah Swift I am not the first writer to be inspired by the life and legend of Lady Katherine Fanshawe. The first novel based on her life was by Magdalen King-Hall who wrote a book called The Life...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Aliens Invade! - by Lesley Downer
Black Ship - a Japanese artist imaginesOn July 14th 1853, 166 years ago today, an event occurred that completely changed Japan and the world. I’ll start by winding the clock back a few days. First...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Don't be out of Pocket by Susan Vincent
I love pockets. This doesn’t mean that I must have them, but just that the whole notion is so brilliant. The idea of having a built-in receptacle – a handy ambulatory container for the things that you...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lascaux IV - by Sue Purkiss
So my post last month - here - got us as far as the entrance to Lascaux. It's a surprisingly modern building, considering it's the gateway to a cave whose glorious paintings were created 20 000 years...
View ArticleClik here to view.
"WITH A CANDLE, A CHAMBER POT AND A BEDROLL . . ." Visiting the Dennis Severs...
By chance I was to be in London with an empty Monday morning to fill, and the Dennis Severs House (built in 1724) crossed my mind. I had heard about the place over the years and had long wanted to see...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sacrifice and Memory in a Small Town in Tuscany by Celia Rees
MonterchiEvery year, I come to Monterchi, a small town in Tuscany, most famously the home of Piero della Francesca’s Madonna del Parto (which I have blogged about before).Madonna del Parto - Piero...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Wrong Caesar by L.J. Trafford
It's a grandiose painting, isn't it? A representation of the glory of Ancient Rome with a crowd of thousands. It was painted by Frenchman, Jean Leon Gerome and there is an intriguing mystery at the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The nature of growing things... by Carolyn Hughes
Last month, my History Girls post looked at various aspects of food and eating in the 14th century, the period of my current fiction series, using a few descriptions from my novels as a shortcut to the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Quandary of What to Wear by Elisabeth Storrs
Empress Livia DrusillaCreating a character in an historical novel can lead to unexpected quandaries. Dressing them in appropriate clothes would seem a simple matter. However, introducing a Roman tomb...
View ArticleClik here to view.
An Appearance of Serenity: Christian Dior & Fashion in WW2 by Catherine Hokin
V&A Museum: Wikimedia ComonsLondon’s V&A is currently hosting one of its most sumptuous exhibitions, Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams. It features clothes from the design house’s founding to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Enigma of the Lady and the Unicorn
Recently I had the opportunity to visit the National Museum of the Middle Ages in Paris, which houses the famous series of Flemish tapestries known as The Lady and the Unicorn. My immediate impression...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The British Museum Citole by Elizabeth Chadwick
Whenever I have a spare moment in London, I will invariably head for a museum. A couple of weeks ago I was there on business and happened to have an afternoon free which was spent very profitably in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cornwall by Miranda Miller
Holidaying in Cornwall last month, I was struck by the two very different faces of the county: the beautiful, cheerful, prosperous coast and the strange ruined melancholy industrial buildings that...
View Article